/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/TPCKEHSCHNGI5GD3NQHUAXWKZM.jpg?fit=768%2C512&ssl=1)
A spicy afternoon in Las Vegas, with two major protagonists and in the middle Netflix, present in almost 200 countries and with nearly 250 million subscribers, one of the queens of the platforms and now launched into the vein of sport. Too juicy to let it slip away. On the dark mat of the Michelob Ultra Arena at the Mandalay Bay casino, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, two different eras, debate without fully showing their fangs; closing one and entering the other. That is, heavy artillery even if it is an exhibition. The balance finally falls in favor of the young man from Murcia in the tiebreaker, with suspense, like any good production: 3-6, 6-4 and 14-12, after just over two hours of play. Both are now preparing for the Indian Wells chapter, which begins this week. They do it with a very different background. There, in the Coachella Valley, the one from El Palmar will be with all his vigor and all his youth, while the one from Manacor continues fighting a very emotional last battle.
On the track, 12,000 fans and two ways of understanding the event. More recreational Alcaraz, pure generation Z: fun or nothing. Despite the sprain that he has had in his right ankle since last week, he moves gracefully from here to there, light, like a rubber dancer. When hitting, he is suspended in the air and that chassis that is rather close to perfection – fibrous and strong, delicate and forceful at the same time – levitates for a few moments. His quadriceps are visible in the supports and powerfully draw the attention of the spectator in row four: “He looks like a horse!” He is still a colt, but he has plenty of cylinder capacity and his body contorts with an astonishing elasticity as he goes to chase the ball. You know, sometimes it also disconnects. But this time he can afford it. The show rules, he always defends, and in the Las Vegas gear even more so: “Daleeeeee, Carlitos!”
Mucha celebrity, too much distraction involved. Look closely at Pau Gasol, a couple of seats next to Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones; Blanca Suárez from Madrid exchanges impressions and Charlize Theron takes her seat with the game starting. Good old Carlitos, of course, is dispersed by so much elegance and poise, but Nadal’s seriousness in his performance calls him to order and contains the temptation. The Mallorcan, 38 years old on June 3, is a different story these days, battling with his physique and trying to rejoin the circuit to be able to say goodbye properly, so he controls every gesture and every step, surely repressed because he would like to put in a gear more and reality advises against it. Prudence, prudence and more prudence. Even so, he enjoys several strokes of his in the form of a whiplash; above all, with that devastating passer that he throws when he destroys the first match point against him.
Nadal does not lose his hand, much less his instinct, but these days you can see inner anxiety on his face, that of someone who has to say goodbye against his will. If it were up to him, he would play all his life. However, today it is all unknowns. Not even he himself knows when the outcome will be, he admits. He hasn’t had a run this season either — three games, until his body stopped him in Brisbane; one more than the previous year—and, instead of decreasing, the number of questions has grown. The present is clear: the end is coming, and he continues to do everything to make it on track. Winning or not, but on the ground. Nowadays, each intervention of the Mallorcan must be savored as if it were the last, and that is why he supports him from the stands with his entire family, with his son in the arms of his wife.
Do everything possible in the serve maneuver, always risky for the muscles and tendons, and in the start it is logically difficult to get out. This latest break has taken its toll on her, but even so, she thrives with the same greatness as always. She is applauded by her friend David Ferrer and the swimmer Ona Carbonell, the skier Lindsay Vonn and the quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the man who took a knee against racism in 2016. Everyone comments and enjoys the resolution, with fear involved when a spectator suffers an accident and the action is interrupted. The two tennis players are interested in her and then, Alcaraz, who has started a set down, has the Balearic against the ropes, but it will take five attempts to knock him down. Until the epilogue, Nadal will always be Nadal.
“I should have been here last year and I couldn’t [por una lesión en el psoas ilíaco]. I really enjoyed it. Playing here with Carlos, in front of a great crowd, means a lot to me. It is a challenge to play against him, we are from very different generations. In Spain we have to be very happy to have someone like Carlos. As a fan, I will continue to enjoy him for a long time, I hope,” he says before reuniting with his people, while Alcaraz, smiling, poses happily and praises the veteran, also aware that this beautiful passage in Las Vegas may have been the last dance with a great champion, who knows: “I have learned his fighting spirit from Rafa, he never gives up.”